Postgraduate Doctoral loans

Further information

Further information about the Postgraduate Doctoral Loan is available via the government services website.

If you are an English student or an EU student who meets certain criteria, you can apply for the Postgraduate Doctoral Loan (PDL) of up to £25,000 from the UK government for postgraduate doctoral courses beginning in 2018-19.

The PDL is not means-tested, so it doesn't matter what your household income is. In addition you will not repay any of your Undergraduate loans or Postgraduate Loan for Master’s study whilst you are studying.

The loan is to contribute towards the cost of your postgraduate study, and you can choose whether you put this towards your tuition fees or living costs.

EU nationals will remain eligible to apply for the PDL for the 2018-19 academic year to help cover costs for the duration of their study.

Applications for the PDL will open in the summer of 2018. The exact application date has not been announced yet and any updates will be posted on this page.

The PDL will not be available if:

you have or will receive Research Council funding which includes stipends and or tuition fee support

you are still studying another course and are in receipt of payments from Student Finance

you already have a doctoral degree or equivalent/higher qualification

you are receiving a doctorate by publication

you are behind in repayments for any previous loans from Student Loans Company

Accordion widget for PDL info

Eligibility Criteria

Residency

On the first day of the first academic year of the course students must be:

a UK or Islands national who has been ordinarily resident in England for at least three years other than for the purposes of study; or

an EU national who has been ordinarily resident in the EEA/Switzerland for at least three years other than for the purposes of study; and

and under 60 years old

Academic years are determined by course start dates:

a. 1st September b. 1st January c. 1st April d. 1st July

Applications may be subject to individual assessment, with up to three years address history required.

Eligible courses

Standalone doctoral programmes, such as PhD/ DPhil (Doctor of Philosophy), EdD (Doctor of Education) and EngD (Doctor of Engineering),

Integrated doctoral programmes, even if you already have a master’s degree, and

Distance Learning doctoral programmes

due to start from 1 August 2018 onwards

full-time or part-time, for the duration of 3 to 8 academic years

taught, research based or combined doctoral programmes.

Where your course is delivered by more than one university, and one is overseas you will still be eligible for the PDL provided:

the UK university is the lead institution

you spend at least 50% of your study time over the whole course in the UK.

How does it work?

Students can:

apply for a non-means tested loan of up to a maximum of £25,000

apply up to 9 months after the academic year start date

request a change to the loan amount up to 1 month before the academic year end date

The PDL is not means-tested, so it doesn't matter what your household income is.

How do I apply?

Applications can be completed online or via paper forms through Student Finance England; who will administer the loans.

How will I be paid?

Payments are made on the start date of term one, then the last Wednesday of the 4th and 7th month after the course starts

Payments are split 33%, 33% and 34%

Do I have to pay it back?

Yes. Repayments will be based on your income, not what you borrowed. You will repay 6.1% of your income over the threshold (currently £21,000 a year) towards your loan. Repayments will normally start the April after you finish or leave your course. When it comes to repayment there are a couple of differences from other student loans that you should be aware of:

Interest will be charged at the RPI plus 6.1% from the day the first payment is made to you until the loan is repaid in full or written off. It won’t vary depending on your income after you finish your course.

The interest rate is updated in September every year, using the RPI from March of that year.

If you started your undergraduate course on or after 1 September 2012 and have any other loans from the Student Loans Company you will repay these at the same time. This means you will repay

9% of your income over £25,000 towards the student loan you took for your undergraduate course and

6.1% of your income over £21,000 towards your Postgraduate Master’s Loan and